No. 1 Seed (35) SMU (15-8) vs No. 4 Seed Tulsa (14-10)
Friday, Apr. 21 | 2 p.m. CT
Box Score
No. 1 Seed (35)Â SMU (14-8) vs No. 2 Seed (37) UCF (11-10)
USTA National Campus – Orlando, FL
Saturday, Apr. 22 | 3 p.m. CT
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ORLANDO (SMU)- SMU women's tennis is one win away from a conference title.
The No. 1 seed Mustangs blanked the No. 4 seed Tulsa 4-0 on Friday afternoon at the USTA National Campus to punch their ticket to the program's first AAC Championship finals.
The Mustangs are looking to capture their first conference title since joining the conference in 2014.
The shutout over the Golden Hurricane was SMU's second in as many days. The Mustangs commenced tournament play with a 4-0 sweep over No. 9 seed Temple on Thursday.
"Great effort from the team tonight. We approached the match with an assertive mentality and it showed. Excited to compete for a championship tomorrow," said head coach
Jeff Nevolo.
SMU will have a tough tussle as they take on the No. 2 seed UCF for all the marbles Saturday afternoon. SMU defeated the Knights less than a week ago on Apr. 16 in a 4-2 victory to close out its regular season.
SMU won the doubles point in a convincing fashion on courts 2 and 3 and the dominance rolled over into singles play with victories on courts 1, 2 and 4 clinching the match.
Hadley Doyle and
Drew Morris were the first pair to finish on court 3. The team only dropped two games as they ran away with the match claiming a 6-2 win giving SMU the edge in doubles play.
Minutes after the victory on court 3,
Taylor Johnson and
Lana Mavor shut down a hopeful Laia Conde Monfort and Ana Naranj Martinez in a 6-1 victory. The SMU duo only gave up the second game of the match as they proceeded to take the next five resulting in the 1-0 lead for SMU.
SMU then won nine of the 10 completed sets in singles play to complete the shutout.
Johnson remains undefeated over the weekend as she widended SMU's edge to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Ma Berlanga Bandera on Court 2. Johnson continues on her win streak improving it to eight straight.
Hadley Doyle obtained the Mustangs third point of the day shortly thereafter. The senior swept Monfort with a pair of 6-3 wins. The match did not lack immaculate points from both players but Doyles inability to miss gave her the win. Doyle has now won her past seven matches.
Jackie Nylander got the Mustangs shutout as she defeated Myroslava Zelenchuk in straight sets on Court 4. The two players were in a tight test in the first set where more deuce points were seen than in any other match. Nylander got the first set with a 6-4 win and brought that same momentum into the second. Zelenchuk continued to fight as she fought off a match point and held serve to put the match in Nylander's hands serving at 5-3. Nylander held comfortably giving SMU the sweep and a spot to compete for a conference title.
The No. 2 seed UCF has also earned a pair of 4-0 sweeps on their way to the finals.
The match will face the two top ranked programs in the conference with SMU ranked at No. 35 and UCF just two spots off at No. 37. The two highest ranked singles players will also face off with SMU's No. 80
Hadley Doyle and UCF's No. 38 Marie Mattel.
The match is set for Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. CT. and will be streamed on ESPN +.
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#35 SMU 4, Tulsa 0
Apr 21, 2023 at
Singles Competition
1. #80 Hadley Doyle (SMU) def. Laia Conde Monfort (TULSA) 6-3, 6-3 |
| 2. Taylor Johnson (SMU) def. M. Berlanga Bandera (TULSA) 6-2, 6-0 |
| 3. Drew Morris (SMU) vs. Lily Hutchings (TULSA) 6-3, 0-6, 3-1, unfinished |
| 4. Jackie Nylander (SMU) def. Myroslava Zelenchuk (TULSA) 6-4, 6-3 |
| 5. Lana Mavor (SMU) vs. Ana Naranjo Martinez (TULSA) 7-5, 2-4, unfinished |
| 6. Maja Makoric (SMU) vs. Oleksandra Nahurska (TULSA) 6-4, 5-3, unfinished |
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Match Notes
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (2,1,4) |
| American Athletic Conference Championship Semifinals |
